LSU Health New Orleans research could impact cancer therapy

LSU Health New Orleans says research led by one of its professors has found a new role for a protein in preventing the growth and spread of breast cancer.

Suresh Alahari, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, discovered the protein, Nischarin, which is involved in regulating breast cancer cell migration and movement. Although his lab has shown that Nischarin functions as a tumor suppressor, research continues to uncover new information that may lead to better treatments, a news release said.

The results of the study are published in the OnlineFirst section of the journal Cancer Research.

“It has been shown that exosomes can be developed as carriers for delivering drugs,” Alahari said in a statement. “Nischarin-expressing exosomes in combination with drugs will likely have very good therapeutic effect on breast cancer patients.”

Other members of the LSU Health New Orleans research team were Mazvita Maziveyi and Shengli Dong in the School of Medicine’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, as well as Donald Mercante in the School of Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics. The research team also included scientists from Central University of Punjab, Louisiana State University, Wayne State University, Xavier University and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

The research was supported by funding from the Fred Brazda Foundation and LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine.